Weapons are often used in adverse conditions. Weapons can include, but are not limited to, firearms or any other weapons with intricate or mechanically precise firing mechanisms that could be compromised by sand, salt, or other environmental contaminants including bows (particularly compound bows and crossbows), spearguns, tasers, paintball guns, etc. (collectively referred to herein as weapons). The adverse conditions that these weapons are exposed to can include salt or fresh water, chemicals, dust, sand and other particulates or types of contaminants. These adverse conditions can damage the weapon and lead to malfunction, or precipitate the need for premature maintenance and repair. At a minimum, damage can lead to expense or lost time while at worst, damage can cause a weapon to fail to perform properly and compromise the safety of a soldier or police officer who is relying on the weapon being ready to be used at a moment's notice. This is especially of concern to soldiers, whose areas of operation might include deserts, high mountains and ocean or other wet environments, where the environment may be especially harsh and compromising to the reliability of their weapons.
Pistols, rifles and fully automatic weapons typically include a hollow tubular barrel, are trigger initiated and hand held. When necessary, the weapon needs to be readily accessible to the user. Under certain circumstances, it is desirable to carry a firearm in a water and\or dust proof protective bag. The bag is typically comprised of a waterproof material and the weapon is completely sealed within the bag, which may or may not closely fit the shape of the weapon. The user cannot see the weapon inside the bag and cannot use the weapon while it is inside the bag. The bag typically contains a zipper or other opening means and the weapon must be removed from the bag in order for the weapon to function.
Improvements on such a waterproof duffle bag weapon holder have been made that allow a user to protect a weapon from water and sand and still allow the weapon to be fired. The current technology consists of a neoprene bag that has a brass waterproof zipper and a built-in five-finger glove-like pocket “welded” onto the side of the bag. To fire a weapon, a user must first locate and then insert their hand into the glove-like pocket in order to operate the trigger. The glove-like pocket does not allow for ambidextrous use. The pocket can be hard for the user to locate and then difficult to slide their hand into, especially for large or small hands or if the bag or user's hand is wet, covered with sand or otherwise contaminated. Furthermore, it can be difficult to operate features of the weapon once the hand is inserted.
Some features such as the weapon's foregrip, magazine or cocking mechanism may be out of reach of the built in “glove”. Moreover, such prior art bags completely preclude the use of the weapon's build in sight, such as a laser or other sight. Additionally, the prior art bags are expensive, bulky and weigh approximately 3 pounds when dry and empty. When the bag is removed after adverse conditions have passed, the user must store the bag, which can be even heavier and bulkier when wet.
Furthermore, the bag is opaque and the user cannot see the weapon while the bag is covering the weapon, so it is not possible to visually inspect the weapon for the position of the safety, cocking mechanism, or proper seating of a magazine. These bags also require regular maintenance, such as the addition of a wax to maintain the waterproof quality of the brass zipper.
As such, there is a need to improve upon the prior art to create a weapon protective device (bag) that is lightweight and easy to store, which protects the weapon, and allows for simple ambidextrous use of all of the critical features of the weapon (preferably including any sighting mechanism) regardless of hand size and which hand is used to operate the weapon, when the weapon is contained and protected within the device. Additionally, the weapon protection device should be sufficiently durable such that the weapon protection device cannot be punctured, ripped or torn when used in harsh environmental conditions.